Yard pest control

Not all bugs are bad. Many eat pests or pollinate your plants.

Get to know your bugs

If you think you have pests in your garden, determine whether they are actually damaging your plants. Keep in mind that a little damage likely won't hurt. Most plants can easily survive losing 25 percent of their leaf surface, and many plants can actually "outgrow" pests or diseases that afflict them especially if the soil is healthy.

Try to accept low levels of damage.

Encourage natural predators and beneficial insects: Build birdhouses, set up birdbaths, plant millet and other seed crops to attract swallows and other allies.

Encourage predatory and parasitic wasps by planting nectar and pollen plants such as sunflowers, cosmos, echinacea and flowering herbs.

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